THE NEW GENOA BRIDGE (Outline)

On 14 August last year, the city of Genoa in northwest Italy woke to a strong
summer storm. A 200-metre section of the bridge collapsed, including one of its three
supporting towers. The tragedy killed 43 people and left 600 homeless.
THE OLD GENOA BRIDGE (MORANDI)
MORANDI (Genoa) BRIDGE – The Morandi Bridge, finished in 1967, is named after
the civil engineer who designed it: Riccardo Morandi, who died in 1989. Before its
collapse, it stretched 3,878ft, connecting the A10 motorway toward France and A7 to
Milan. Popular for both commercial traffic and local vacationers, the bridge formed an
arterial connection between France and Italy. Morandi was one of the longest concrete
bridges in the world when it opened in September 1967. Morandi bridge was a multi-
span, cable-stayed bridge similar to the Brooklyn Bridge: regular towers, from which a
series of exposed steel cables stretched to the bridge’s deck.
According to Angelo Borrelli, Civil Protection Department chief, the collapse took
approximately 36 cars and three trucks down with it. Motorists on the bridge weren’t the
only ones at risk; apartments and houses built under the bridge were crushed or had to
be evacuated. As hundreds of volunteers and professional emergency workers
searched the wreckage for people, still-hanging sections of the bridge creaked
ominously overhead. The death toll now stands at 43. In the days after the tragedy,
mounting public anger has led to a search for causes: Was neglectful maintenance,
shoddy workmanship or poor design to blame for the collapse? For those seeking
answers, the problem isn’t finding one possible solution. It’s determining which of the
bridge’s many faults finally caused it to collapse.
WHY THE OLD BRIDGE COLLAPSED?
Why exactly the bridge collapsed last August is yet to be understood. A team of
experts working with the investigators issued a report this month stating that the bridge
samples analysed showed evidence of corrosion and some construction errors, but they
steered clear from attributing a cause to the collapse. Witnesses said the bridge was
struck by lightning during a thunderstorm before it crumbled, though lighting alone
should not have felled the bridge. Preliminary investigation points to a combination of
poor design, questionable building practices and insufficient maintenance.
The structure’s stays are a crucial part of a cable-stayed bridge. They pass
directly from the towers to the deck, helping distribute the weight of the bridge evenly
across the towers. The main difference between the cable-stayed bridge and its close
cousin, the suspension bridge, is that cable-stayed bridges lack the primary cables that
connect towers to one another. They rely only on the cables that pass from tower to
road.Most cable-stayed bridges have multiple stays that fan out from the towers and
attach to multiple points on the deck. This helps distribute the forces on the deck.
Morandi’s bridge only had two stays per tower, one on each side. The composition of
these stays was unique. Most cable-stayed bridges have stays made of woven metal
cables. Instead, Morandi used prestressed concrete around tie-rods, making it
impossible to see the condition of the metal underneath. Neither of these choices are
optimal for building a stable bridge. The small number of stays would have made it more
difficult for the bridge to stay standing if one element failed.
Cable-stayed bridges in particular rely on a precise balancing of weight. With only a pair
of stays on each side of the tower, the failure of a single stay could have caused
enough load shifting to overburden the other structural elements of the bridge.
Inadequate Maintenance. The Morandi Bridge was part of a privately owned toll
highway system looked after by construction and maintenance company
Autostrade per l’Italia. In the wake of the collapse, there have been questions about
exactly how frequently, and thoroughly, maintenance was performed. Ache Morandi
Bridge was part of a privately owned toll highway system looked after by construction
and maintenance company Autostrade per l’Italia. In the wake of the collapse, there
have been questions about exactly how frequently, and thoroughly, maintenance was
performed.
Weak Materials. he Morandi Bridge was built during the 1960s, a construction
boom in Italy. The era’s legacy is a mixed one because many of the structures built then
are starting to fall apart now. Part of the problem was corruption. Mafia involvement in
public infrastructure meant that many of the projects were built with under-reinforced
concrete and made with too much sand and water. Bercich said that they used
materials that are destined to deteriorate quickly. The inexpensive concrete may have
been cheaper at the time of construction, but now there are serious costs.
The Morandi Bridge’s collapse wasn’t a freak accident, and it wasn’t an out-of-
the-blue surprise. There were warnings at every stage, from design to construction to
maintenance, that something was wrong.
THE REPLACEMENT OF THE NEW GENOA BRIDGE (Pergenova Bridge)
The new bridge is being designed as a gift by the renowned Italian architect and
Genoa native Renzo Piano. Piano notably designed Paris' Georges Pompidou centre,
the Shard in London, and the Whitney Museum in New York. According to Italian
reports, Piano provided sketches to Genoa officials, showing the road sitting on pillars
that each resembled the prow of a ship.The other main feature would be 43 very tall
posts illuminating the bridge at night in the shape of sails - one for each victim of the
disaster, the Corriere website said.The bridge would be built by engineers, but the
project should be thrown open to all architects, engineers and landscape specialists, he
said.
Simple, thrifty, yet not commonplace. It will look like a ship moored in the valley;
a clear and bright steel bridge. During the day it will reflect sunlight and absorb solar
energy and at night it will return it. It will be a sober bridge, reflecting the character of
the Genoese. 1,067-metre-long (3,500-feet) viaduct, with 19 reinforced concrete spans
and 18 piers or columns. An imposing infrastructure, but also modern and sustainable.
The borders of the bridge will have a wind barrier that uses a photovoltaic energy supply
system. Air dehumidification devices will be deployed to avoid corrosion of the
materials, while all of the equipment will be centrally managed from a nearby control
centre. What is more, robots will carry out the structural inspection of the bridge and
maintenance of the solar and acoustic panels, minimizing the risk and need for human
workers.

THE NEW GENOA BRIDGE (Outline)

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On 14 August last year, the city of Genoa in northwest Italy woke to a strong

THE OLD GENOA BRIDGE (MORANDI)

WHY THE OLD BRIDGE COLLAPSED?

THE REPLACEMENT OF THE NEW GENOA BRIDGE (Pergenova Bridge)

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